Australian Gourmet Traveller - (10)October 2019 (1)

SinceopeningPolylastyear,haveyouhadanykitchen

disastersorhasit allbeensmoothsailing?Workingout

whatsauceshouldn’tbecookedonthefirehasbeena

learningcurveforthestaff.Wehavea sweet-and-sour

glazethat’smainlyhoney,whichshouldnevergoonthe

fire.Onceit startstocaramelise,it canboiloverrealquick.

Yourfriedpotatowitheggyolkhasattractedquite

a following.Peopledolovefriedpotato.Thedishis

basicallya hashbrownthathasa saltedeggsauce

madefromcuredeggyolks,withchivesandmore

shavedeggyolkontop.

Polyis attachedtoParamountHouseHotel.What

areyoumakingforroomservice?Versionsofwhat

wehaveonthemenu:a seafoodplatewithoysters,

pickledmusselsandoctopus,andoursteaksandwich.

Wealsohadtoadda cheesetoastie!

Andhowaredishesdelivered?Weputallthefoodin

thetiffinsandtakeit toreception,thentheyrunit up

totheroom.There’sa clothwrappedaroundthetiffins,

soguestscanuseit asa tablecloth.

Wehearyou’vecreateda dishthat’sanimprovement

onthecheeseburger.It’sa tartarewiththeclassic

condiments,butinsteadofgherkinsweusedillpickles.

Whenweputtheflavourstogether,it remindedmeofa

cheeseburger.Thefried cheese is a disc of parmesan

cookedina panuntil it starts to smell like grilled cheese.

Tellusaboutaninteresting producer you work with.

I loveusingElenaBurraduc’s buffalo curd. I visited the

BurraducfarminSeal Rocks, NSW, earlier in the year.

It wasbeautifultosee all the water buffalo, and I love

howthecheesesare made metres away from where

theyaremilked.Poly, 74-76 Commonwealth St, Surry

Hills,NSW,(02)8860 0808, polysurryhills.com.au

ON THE PASS

PEN PAL

Channel your inner magician with

Mont Blanc’s Augmented Paper range.

A digitiser, enclosed in a sleek leather

case, allows you to transmit your

missives from any old piece of paper

to a mobile device, using Bluetooth

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case, notebook, pen, refills and USB

cable, montblanc.com

ARIA BY NUMBERS

InOctober1999,MattMoran opened Aria, his flagship restaurant by Sydney

Harbour.ForAria’s20thbirthday, he’s presenting a month-long tasting menu of

greatesthits(suchasthe Peking duck consommé with abalone from 2000), with

a 2019twist.Fora lookat how much the restaurant has changed, we’ve crunched

thenumbersontwodecades of dining at Aria. ariasydney.com.au

MAHC

GAP

(^) EN
OL
SB
ET
(^) R
ID
HS
SE
S
LO
D
DINERS IN 20 YEARS
TABLECLOTHS USED
728,000
1,248,000
$200,000 a year
COST OF LAUNDERING LINEN
6068
COST OF TWO COURSES
(PRE-THEATRE)
$50
IN 1999
$90
IN 2019
OF
U
R-
HU
NDRED-&-
SI
XT
Y-
IE
HG
T^ T
NASUOH
D
BREAD
ROLLS
SERVED
Isabelle Caulfield
POLY, SYDNEY
30 GOURMET TRAVELLER
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